Method for using images to generate gameplay content

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for using images to generate gameplay content are disclosed herein. Specifically, for example, one aspect of the present disclosure involves a method for altering a virtual world generated by a video game system. The method includes obtaining one or more images from sources external to the video game system and processing the one or more images to obtain one or more inputs. The one or more inputs are provided to a gameplay engine to alter an output of the gameplay engine.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/570,171 entitled “Systems and Methods for Using Images to GenerateGameplay Content” filed on Sep. 30, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,419,534,which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference as thoughfully disclosed herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention relate generally to video game systemsand, more particularly, systems and methods for using images to generategameplay content for video game systems.

BACKGROUND

Modern video game designs are becoming increasingly complex, offering alarger amount and variety of gameplay content to the player.Correspondingly, video game players' expectations have risen such thatthey expect both a greater amount of game content as well as a greatervariety of content.

Video game developers expend a large amount of time and effort trying tomeet the expectations of video game players and to provide them with astate of the art gaming experience. To short circuit some of the workand reduce the time involved in the creation of video games, some gamesimplement Procedurally Generated Content (PGC) as a method to generatesome aspects of game content. PGC refers to the generation of content inreal time or on the fly, rather than prior to distribution. Generally,PGC has applied to the creation of art related content, such as meshes,textures and trees.

Typically, procedurally generated systems require an input or seed,which is then used in algorithms to generate the content. This input orseed has been obtained from an array of numbers, a set of random numberscreated by a random number generation algorithm on the game system'sprocessor, and a bar-code which generated statistics for a fightinggame, for example. More recently, audio files have been used as input togenerate music-based gameplay.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure involves a method for altering avirtual world generated by a video game system. The method includesobtaining one or more images from sources external to the video gamesystem and processing the one or more images to obtain one or moreinputs. The one or more inputs are provided to a gameplay engine toalter an output of the gameplay engine.

Another aspect of the present invention includes a method of generatingunique gameplay content for a video game virtual world. The methodincludes obtaining a digital image from a network location, an imagecapture device, or a memory device coupled to a game system uponinitiation of a video game. Data is extracted from the digital image andone or more characteristics of the image are determined based on theextracted data. The method also includes providing the one or morecharacteristics of the image to a gameplay engine and generatinginteractive gameplay content based on the one or more characteristics ofthe image.

Another aspect of the present disclosure includes a video game systemfor operating a video game. The video game system includes at least oneprocessor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory isconfigured to store digital images obtained by the video game system.The video game system also includes a video game content source incommunication with the processor. The video game content source includesa video game application and the processor is configured to execute thevideo game application to generate gameplay content based on dataextracted from the digital images. The video game system also includesan output device coupled to the processor and configured to present thegameplay content to a player.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the method for using photographicimages for generating procedurally generated gameplay content.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example method for generating a levelgeometry from an image stored on a computer readable medium.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example image of a car that may be used togenerate gameplay content.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a terrain generated from data of theexample image of the car in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example image of a fish that may be used togenerate gameplay content.

FIG. 4B illustrates another example terrain generated from data of theexample image of the fish in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using a facial image togenerate gameplay content.

FIG. 6A illustrates an image of a face that may be used to generategameplay content.

FIG. 6B illustrates the face of FIG. 6A with lines indicatingmeasurements that may be used to extract metrics from the face of FIG.6A.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using edges of an imageto generate content for gameplay.

FIG. 8A is an example image that may be used to generate content forgameplay.

FIG. 8B illustrates results of running an edge detection algorithm onthe image of FIG. 8A to determine edges within the image.

FIG. 8C illustrates a possible use of the edge information from theimage to create an attack pattern for video game content.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method to alter weather conditionsin a virtual world based on an image color content.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example video game systemconfigured to alter an output based on an image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure involve a system that receives andprocesses images to generate video gameplay content. One particularaspect of the present disclosure involves a system that obtains adigital image, processes the image to obtain data that is used to affectthe content of a video game running on the system. For example, thesystem may process one or more images to obtain one or more inputs andproviding the one or more inputs to a gameplay engine. In turn, any or avariety of outputs of the gameplay engine may be altered. If, forexample, the gameplay engine provides any of a variety of virtual worldfeatures (e.g., trees, buildings, race course layout, attackingcharacters, etc.) their features may be altered in response to thereceipt of the image (e.g., number and arrangement of trees andbuildings changed, race course layout changed, number and pattern ofattackers changed, etc.).

It should be understood that the terms “video gaming system,” “gamingsystem,” and/or “computer system” as used herein refer to any processorbased system that may be configured to operate software or programs tooutput video game content. As such, the use of such terms is intended tobe used broadly to include personal computers, dedicated video gameconsoles, hand held computing and communication devices, and notebookcomputers, for example. Additionally, the term “gameplay engine” as usedherein may refer to software and programs that are executed by aprocessor to generate content for a video game. In some embodiments, thegameplay engine may include a dedicated processor, an applicationspecific integrated circuit, and/or any other suitable software andhardware combination to generate gameplay content. Furthermore, theterms “gameplay content,” and “content,” generally refer to a virtualworld created for use and for output by a video game. The content mayinclude colors, context, sounds, conditions, different levels, etc.Additionally, users may interact with the gameplay content and influencethe course of the content generated by a video game system. Moreparticularly, as described herein, an image input into the system mayalter the content presented to a user.

Turning to the figures and referring initially to FIG. 1, a flowchart ofan example method 10 for altering gameplay content for a video gamesystem is illustrated. The method 10 includes obtaining a digital image,as indicated at block 12. Images can be obtained from a variety of imagesources. For example, video game systems can read media (includinghard-disks, floppy discs, compact discs, digital video discs, Blu-ray™discs, portable media/SD Cards™, etc.) to obtain the data. In someembodiments, images may be stored on media integral to the system. Forexample, one or more images may be saved on a hard drive of a system andmay be retrieved. If there is more than one image on the hard drive, animage may be selected in a sequential manner or randomly.

Additionally, images can be retrieved from a network (e.g., Internet)location. In particular, a user can input a uniform resource locator(“URL”) into a system where an image may be found. The URL may link thesystem to a particular image or to a site with a plurality of images. Ifmore than one image is located at the URL, the system may randomlyselect an image, the user may select an image, or other means ofselecting an image may be employed. Alternatively, the system may beprogrammed to retrieve images from a specific website. The image(s)accessible at the URL may be uploaded to the URL by users or may beplaced at the URL by the owner/website operator. In some embodiments,the URL may include continuously changing images, while in otherembodiments, the URL may include one or more images that do not change.Additionally, in one embodiment, the system may be configured toautomatically retrieve an image from a URL without user input.

Cameras coupled to the system or installed as part of the system canalso capture video or still images as input. Continually more videogaming systems and computers are being equipped with integrated cameras.Additionally, if not equipped with a camera, a camera may be coupled toa video gaming system or computer through a communication port, such asa USB port, for example. When a camera coupled to or integral to thesystem captures an image, the image may be stored in a specified memorylocation so that the image may be located and processed to extract datafrom the image useful in affecting the gameplay content.

Once the system receives an image, the image is processed, as indicatedat block 14, to be used in the generation of graphics and/or gameplaycontent. The image can be processed as a whole or, in some embodiments,only selected portions of the image are processed. In one example, thesystem processes only selected pixels of an image. For example, thesystem may select one or more pixels at random from the image and thecolor of the pixels and/or other features of the pixels may be used asseed values for generating gameplay content for the video game system.The “seed values,” as used in this context may refer to one or more bitsprovided to an algorithm, such as a pseudo random number generatoralgorithm or a gameplay content generation algorithm, for example.

In another example, the system may analyze characteristics of the imageto generate the content. Characteristics examples may includedetermining a location depicted in the image. For example, it may bedetermined if an image includes a rural landscape image, a cityskyscape, a bar, etc. Furthermore, famous locations may be recognized bythe system and used to generate content related to such locations. Ifthe system receives an image of the Eiffel Tower, for example, videogame content may be generated related to Paris or France. Thus, theimage may be processed in a number of different ways to obtain data thatmay be used in generating video game content.

After initial processing of the image to extract data, identifycharacteristics of the image, or otherwise, the extracted image data isprovided to a gameplay engine for the creation of content based on thedata obtained from the image, as indicated at block 16. The gameplayengine may be configured to process the image in a variety of differentways and the particular processing will depend on the specificprogramming of a particular video game system or software operating onthe system. Specifically, different systems may be configured to processan image to extract data in one way while another system may extractdata in a different way. Additionally, data extracted from a commonimage may vary between the different systems and the extracted data maybe used for various different purposes depending on the type of videogames operating on a particular system. Moreover, data extracted from animage may be used in various different ways to achieve a particular endbased on the software (e.g., video game) running on the system. Forexample, a video game based on vehicles racing may use data extractedfrom an image to set a race course, while a war-based game may use datato determine the size, number and relative power of an enemy's force.Furthermore, it should be appreciated that in some embodiments a systemmay extract variant data from a single image in iterative processingoperations. That is, for example, the system may extract a first set ofdata the first time the image is processed and a second different set ofdata the second time the image is processed.

Accordingly, there are many and varied ways and purposes that aparticular system may process images. In one example, an image may beexamined to determine if there are a threshold number of curved lines,straight lines, or other characteristics the gameplay engine may use togenerate content. For example, the gameplay engine may include a codesequence that generates a body of water by determining the arrangementof lines in the image, e.g., straight lines versus curved lines. Agameplay engine may generate content based on the curve assessment bygenerating a body of water with gentle waves (if straight lines) orrough waves (if curves), for example. As such, the gameplay enginegenerates graphical content based on some characteristic of the image.

There may be several different ways to determine the linearity orcurvature of lines in an image. An example may include examining thecolor patterns within an image and feeding pixels within a certain colorrange through a mathematical model to extract a mathematical formulathat recreates the pixel distribution. The mathematical formula can thenbe determined to be a line function or a curve function. Generally, todetect straight line versus curved line, first there needs to be a setof rules to define what “straight” and what “curved” means and where thethreshold is between the two. There are several examples that may befound in the art for the determination between straight and curved linesin images.

In another example, a facial recognition system could be used toidentify key visual characteristics of a person's face and generate acharacter based on those characteristics. Another example uses an edgefinding algorithm to find edges in an image. The edges may be processedby the gameplay engine to generate attack schemes or maps for thegameplay content. Another example includes identifying the amount ofnoise within an image. Generally, the amount of noise may then be usedto alter the content of the game such as the aggressiveness of thecharacters in the game or the number or type of obstacles to achieve aparticular goal, for example. Yet another example includes identifyinggeneral colors and utilizing averaging routines to gather input datathat can be used to create moods, color schemes, and/or other video gamecontent.

It should be understood that although several examples have been givenof both the processing of the image and the generation of content basedon the image, there may be many other ways to process images to generategameplay content. Although not expressly discussed herein, it isintended that such processing is believed to fall within the scope ofthe present disclosure and as such, the examples set forth herein arenot intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, but rather areprovided as specific examples of the general idea of using images toalter gameplay content in a video gaming context.

After the system processes the image to extract data provided to thegameplay engine, content is generated and output to a user, as indicatedat block 18. The output may take a variety of forms; the foregoingexamples included graphics, game flow, difficulty, sound, etc. Otherimplementations could include placement of enemies in a fighting game orlevel geometry for a racing game. Still other implementations could haveaffects on characters within the game world, affecting how charactersreact, their mood, or even dialogue and audio provided to the player.Yet other implementations may affect player goals or objectives, makingthe game easier or harder based upon the input data extracted from theimage. This data is output into a format useful to the game engine anddisplayed in its in-game format to the player. That is, if the game is arole play game or virtual reality, the content provided to the userwould fit into the construct of the particular role play game, forexample. The following discussion presents several specific examples ingreater detail to further illustrate particular embodiments.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a flowchart of an example method 20 forgenerating a level geometry from an image stored on a computer readablemedium is illustrated. The method 20 includes reading an image from acomputer readable medium, as indicated at block 22. The computerreadable media may be removable or may be integral to the video gamesystem and may include, for example, hard-disks, floppy discs, compactdiscs, digital video discs, Blu-ray™ discs, portable media/SD Cards™,etc. In some embodiments, the user may select a particular image to beused in generating the content. In other embodiments, the system mayrandomly select an image stored on the media.

Once an image has been obtained, the system selects pixels from theimage for use in altering the gameplay content, as indicated at block24. FIGS. 3A and 4A illustrate two example images that have beenselected for altering the gameplay content. FIG. 3A is an image of a car34 and FIG. 4A is an image of a fish 36. Pixels 38 in each image may berandomly selected from each image. The random pixels are indicated byarrows. Red, Green and Blue (RGB) values of the selected pixels are readinto memory, as indicated at block 26. For example, referring again toFIG. 3A, the four pixels 38 sampled by the program have the RGB valuesof: [(193, 204, 199), (187, 78, 51), (17, 18, 18), and (92, 89, 86)].Referring to FIG. 4A, the four pixels 38 sampled by the program have theRGB values of: [(165, 63, 17), (225, 89, 24), (103, 72, 59), (244, 238,226)].

The RGB values are then used as a seed or input for a content generatingalgorithm, as indicated at block 28. In this example, the RGB values areused for generation of terrain for a video game. As such, the RGB valuesmay be provided to a terrain generator type gameplay engine. As such,the RGB values of the pixels 38 of FIG. 3A are inserted into an array[193, 204, 199, 87, 78, 51, 17, 18, 18, 92, 89, 86] and passed to aprocedural terrain generator. Similarly, the RGB values of the pixels 38of FIG. 4A are inserted into an array [165, 63, 17, 225, 89, 24, 103,72, 59, 244, 238, 226] and passed to the procedural terrain generator.The terrain generator may be software and/or hardware that generates atopography upon which other video game content may be built and withwhich a user interacts.

Terrain generators are well known in the game industry. Typically,terrain generators are fed a random number from a random numbergenerator. Hence, generally, terrain generators take an input ofvariables (seeds) and process them and output them. Here, however, therandom number generator may be replaced with the seed input from theimage. This involves modifying a terrain generator to use the values asinput, rather than using the input from a random number generator. Inone embodiment, the values extracted from the image may be formatted inthe same manner as values received from a random number generator sothat the terrain generator operates as if the values extracted from theimage are from a random number generator.

The terrain generator then generates level geometry and outputs graphicsbased on the created level geometry with which a user may interact, asindicated at block 30 and 32. For the pixels 38 selected from FIG. 3A,the generator creates a hilly terrain model 37 shown in FIG. 3B, whichis used to generate the final terrain to be output to a user. There aremultiple methods by which terrain can be generated from different numbersequences, including Genetic Terrain Programming, the Diamond SquareAlgorithm and midpoint displacement. In the present example, the terraingenerator algorithm may be modified to utilize the input created by theimage processing. Comparatively, the generator creates a terrain model39 with more valleys, water 41 at the bottom and a large spike 43 in themiddle, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, based on the selected pixels 38 ofFIG. 4A. Because each input provides different starting values forterrain generation (based upon the individual seed extracted from theimages), each would provide a different output. The exact terraingenerated will depend not only on the seed values extracted from theimages but also on the specific algorithm used for the terraingenerator. Additionally, because only a relatively few pixels aresampled for use in generating content, the same image may be used andresult in the output of different terrain. Additionally, by allowing forthe selection of different images, different terrain can be generated,specific to the selected image(s).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method 40 for using an image of aface to alter gameplay content. The method 40 begins with obtaining animage of a face, as indicated at block 42. A camera may be coupled tothe video game system or integrated into the video game system and usedto obtain a digital image of a user's face. FIG. 6A illustrates anexample of a image of a face 53 for the purposes of this embodiment.

The image of the face 53 is processed, as indicated at block 44, toextract data to be input into the gameplay engine. The processing of theimage of the face 53 may include determining and interpreting datarelated to the facial structure, as indicated at block 46. Moreparticularly, any face will likely include two eyes 54, a nose 55, mouth56, eyebrows 57, chin 67, etc. that may be used for extracting data fromthe face 53.

FIG. 6B shows lines connecting features of the face 53 of FIG. 6A thatmay be used to determine data related to the structure of the face. Thelines may be generated by software that is configured to recognizefacial features, such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc. and connect particularpoints of the face with a line, as illustrated. Facial recognitionstechnology is available from Microsoft™, Nintendo™, and Sony™, andrelated algorithms may be known in the art that may be used indetermining facial features and further processing of the facial image.The lines may connect or be drawn between features of the face 53 suchas the eyes 54, nose 55, mouth 56, etc. and creating the lines toconnect the features. As illustrated, lines 58 may be drawn from theeyes 54 and eyebrows 57 to the nose 55. Other lines 59 may be drawn fromthe eyes 54 and tear ducts to the mouth 56, with yet another line 61from a top of the nose 55 (in between the eyes 54) to the chin 67.Additionally, a parallel lines 63 may be drawn through the eyes 54 tothe edges of the face 53, to connect the ears 65, and at the bottom ofthe nose 55.

Generally, the lines may aid in identifying any number of possiblecharacteristics of the face 53, which could include: facial symmetry,eye shape, slope of eyes, ratio between nose width to height, cheekprominence, angle of chin, etc. These characteristics are given merelyas examples and other characteristics and other methods may beimplemented in an actual embodiment. The facial symmetry may bedetermined by comparing the length and slope of the lines on the rightside of the face to those on the left side of the face. The eye shapemay be determined by calculating the ratio of the eye height to width.The slope of the eyes may be determined based on calculating the angleof the lines from the center of the tear ducts to the mouth and thecenter of the eye to the mouth. Cheek prominence may be determined byidentifying the distance between the line drawn between the eyes and theline drawn connecting the ears. The angle of the chin may be determinedby calculating the angle of the line drawn from the tip of the chin tothe base of the ears. It should be understood that these are givenmerely as example measurements and other measurements not specificallymentioned may be utilized in an actual implementation.

In one embodiment, the various data of the face 53 may be weightedagainst average values for such characteristics and scored to modify aparticular characteristic of a character in a video game, as indicatedat block 48. In some embodiments, for example, threshold values may beused to determine a relative value of an identified characteristicagainst an average value for that characteristic. If a particular set ofdata exceeds the threshold, an associated characteristic in a video gamecharacter may be increased or decreased accordingly. In otherembodiments, a raw value indicative of a length of a line or a ratio ofa length of one line to another may be used to modify the gameplaycontent.

In a more specific example, the data from three different facialfeatures such as the angle of the eyes, nose to chin/width of headratio, and distance of eyes to eyebrow, may be used by the gameplaycontent generator to generate attributes of a character in a video game,as indicated at block 50. Specifically, these three different facialfeatures may be applied to the video game character's strength, defenseand speed, respectively, for example. In one embodiment, a standardvideo game character may be provided to which the strength, defense andspeed are applied. The standard video game character may be a defaultcharacter that is programmed to be used in the event that no facialimage is provided. The default character may be programmed with averagestrength, defense and speed (e.g., five out of ten for eachcharacteristic). The default character's traits are then modified upwardor downward based on the angle of the eyes, nose to chin/width of headratio, and distance of eyes to eyebrow in the facial image provided.

Once data has been extracted from the face 53 and processed in ameaningful way to be used in the video game content (e.g., compared witha threshold and/or associated with a particular attribute), the systemgenerates and outputs the created character, as indicated at block 52.Thus, in some embodiments, the resultant characteristics are expressedin the gameplay content when they are attached to an in-game characterwhich utilizes those characteristics to provide variation in gameplaycontent based on variations in the face 53 relative to other images offaces that may be used. It is easy to see that different faces will havedifferent characteristics and, hence, different faces will yielddifferent resulting gameplay characteristics.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method 60 for using edges ofobjects in an image to affect gameplay content. The example set forth inFIG. 7 relates to generating enemy attack patterns from an image storedat a universal remote locator (URL) address, but the image may beobtained in any suitable manner. As indicated at block 62, an image maybe obtained via media as well as over a network connection. In oneembodiment, the image found at the URL is selected from an array orlisting of images by a user and read into the video game system. Inanother embodiment, the system may automatically read in an imagelocated at a given URL. FIG. 8A illustrates an example image 72 that maybe obtained over the Internet.

An edge finding algorithm is applied to the image 72, as indicated atblock 64. Edge finding algorithms are common and known in the art.Additionally, there are commercially available photo editing softwarepackages, such as Photoshop™, Acrobat™, etc., that perform edgedetection in images. Generally, edges in an image are determined bycomparing values, such as RGB values, of adjacent pixels to determine ifthere is a threshold level of difference between the pixels such that anedge can be determined. Edges may be relatively easy to find if thereare strongly contrasting colors, textures and/or depth of field in theimage.

In some embodiments, the threshold level for determination of an edgemay be adjusted within the algorithm to alter the edge sensitivity to adesired level. Moreover, the threshold level may be set based on theparticular type of game for which the image is being used to generatecontent or based or on the available processing power and allowable timedelay for processing, among other things. For example, in a war gamewhere the edges are to be used to forming attack patterns, the thresholdlevels may be moderately set so that the edges may be used for generallyforming infantry lines. In a video game for children, however, where theedges are to be used for a background setting, the threshold may be sethigher to reduce the overall number of edges found and, hence, reducethe number of features included in the background, thereby simplifyingthe background.

Referring again to the example of the attack pattern, the determinededges of the image are input into an attack algorithm, as indicated atblock 66. The attack algorithm may be a software routine that generatesattack patterns and/or determines the aggressiveness and numbers ofattackers. Thus, an enemy attack pattern is generated, as indicated atblock 68, based on the edges of the image. The resulting image isgenerated and the attack is conducted in gameplay, as indicated at block70. The enemy then attacks based upon the attack plan.

FIG. 8B illustrates the image of FIG. 8A following an edge detectionalgorithm. As can be seen, the edges 74 of the contents of the imageform a variety of geometric shapes that correspond to shapes found inthe original image shown in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8C illustrates a potentialattack pattern 76 generated based on the edges 74 of FIG. 8B. As can beseen, the attack pattern 76 roughly approximates the geometric shapescreated by the edges 74 shown in FIG. 8B. The attack plan 76 includesarrows 78 to indicate the movement of the attack plan 76 from theright-hand side of FIG. 8C to the left-hand side.

Attack flow, the generation of attack patterns, and number of troops arecontrolled by game logic subsystem in video games. These, much like theterrain generators, utilize variables (seeds) in combination with alook-up table to provide output such as attack patterns and number oftroops involved. The specific example system illustrated herein may becreated to weigh the average of the pixels identified and group theminto clusters that identify the weighting that goes into the attackpatterns of each grouping. Since there are a threshold number of edgepixels across the top and bottoms of the images it splits the group intotwo forces. Then, as the pixels on the left spread out into separategroupings the attack pattern follows suit. The number of troops toutilize within each attack pattern is determined by the weighting of thenumber of edges detected.

In yet another example embodiment, images may be used to alter weatherconditions in gameplay content. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating amethod 80 for altering weather conditions in a virtual world based oninput obtained from an image. In method 80, a camera attached to thevideo gaming console may be used to capture an image, as indicated atblock 82. In one example, at the start of a level, the camera may take asnapshot of the current surroundings. The photograph is sent to a coloranalyzing routine which determines the predominant colors of the photo,as indicated at block 84. The value of those colors is then sent to aweather routine of the gameplay content generator, as indicated at block86, which is a software routine dedicated to generating in-game weatherbased upon the colors found within the picture. For example, if apicture were predominantly blue, the weather routine may create arain-storm in the game, a predominantly white photo might create asnowstorm, and predominantly green images would cause a fog cloud toroll in. The weather conditions for the virtual world generated by thegaming system are then created by the gameplay content generator, asindicated at block 88. The generated weather patterns would then affectthe gameplay, limiting movement speeds, causing slipperiness, andlimiting visual distance in various ways, based upon the specificweather effect, as indicated at block 90.

In embodiments where a camera is used to obtain an image, lightingeffects may significantly alter the processing and interpretation of theimage. These lighting changes may result in different content beinggenerated from one setting despite only the lighting being changed. Forexample, an image captured at midday and an image captured at nightwill, generally, result in different content being generated based onthe respective images because of the changed lighting conditions.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example video gaming system 100. The video gamingsystem 100 includes a processor (CPU) 102, random access memory (RAM)104, storage 106, a media reader 108, an image capture device 110, and acontroller input 112. The CPU 102 may be an suitable processor capableof executing gaming software. In some embodiments, the CPU 102 mayinclude more than one processor or processing cores and may have one ormore processors dedicated to generating graphical output. The RAM 104may include one or more different types of random access memory and mayoperate as execution memory. That is, the RAM 104 may store algorithmsand data on a non-permanent basis for execution by the CPU 102. Thestorage 106 may include hard disk drives, solid state drives, etc.,configured to store digital data. For example, the storage 106 may storean operating system for operation of the video gaming system 100 andgames to be played on the system 100. The media reader 108 may include aCD/DVD drive, a Blu-ray™ disc player, a SD Card™ reader, etc., and maybe used to read in data, such as image data and game data, for example,into the system 100. The image capture device 110 may include anydigital imaging device including still cameras, video cameras, scanners,etc. and may be integrated into the body of the system 100 or externalto the system and simply coupled to the system.

The controller input 112 may include any suitable input device includinga remote controller, a keyboard, a number pad, a joystick, a steeringwheel, a mouse, etc. and may be configured to provide one or more inputtypes into the system 100. For example, the controller input 112 mayprovide accelerometer data and push button data to the system 100.Additionally, the controller input 112 may be configured to providefeedback to a user via haptic systems (not shown) such as vibration, forexample.

The video gaming system 100 is configured to receive and execute a gameapplication. The game application 114 may be read from the storage 106,from media by the media reader 108, from a network source, or any otheravailable source for the game application. Upon execution of the gamingapplication, the video gaming system may generate content and receiveuser input to provide a fully interactive experience for a user.

The video game content provided to the user is altered by the input ofimage data 116. The image data may be read into the system from thestorage 106, from media by the media reader 108, from a network source118, such as the internet for example, or may be captured by the imagecapture device 110. The altered gameplay content is then provided to auser via a display 120. The display 120 may be integrated with thesystem 100 or separate from the system but communicatively coupled withthe system 100.

The altering of the game application using data obtained from an imageallows for continually changing gameplay content and a unique userexperience. However, it should be understood that the foregoing exampleembodiments are merely presented as examples and are not intended tolimit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, while specific examples havebeen described with reference to certain embodiments, those of ordinaryskill in the art should recognize that changes can be made to theexample embodiments without departing from the spirit and the scope ofthe invention. For example, in some embodiments more than one image maybe used to generate gameplay content. Indeed, multiple images may beused, including the obtaining of new images, during gameplay to affectthe content presented to a user throughout a user's experience playing aparticular game. Furthermore, it should be understood that elements ofthe embodiments may be combined with and/or used in lieu of elements ofother embodiments to achieve a desired result. For example, a colorscheme of an image may be used instead of, or in combination with, theedges of an image to generate an attack pattern and/or a weather patternfor gameplay. Specifically, the color scheme of an image may be used todetermine the weather with which game characters will have to dealduring a military campaign, for example. As such, the describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive.

Although the present disclosure has been described with respect toparticular apparatuses, configurations, components, systems and methodsof operation, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart upon reading this disclosure that certain changes or modificationsto the embodiments and/or their operations, as described herein, may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.Accordingly, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by theappended claims. The various embodiments, operations, components andconfigurations disclosed herein are generally exemplary rather thanlimiting in scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of generating unique gameplay contentfor a video game virtual world comprising: obtaining a digital imagefrom a network location, an image capture device, or a memory devicecoupled to a game system upon initiation of a video game; extractingdata from the digital image, wherein extracting data comprises randomlyselecting one or more pixels of the image; determining, by a gameplayengine, one or more characteristics of the image based on the extracteddata; generating, by the gameplay engine, interactive gameplay contentbased on the one or more characteristics of the image; and transmittingthe interactive gameplay content to a display device for display.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining one or more characteristics ofthe image comprises determining a red, a green and a blue value for eachof the one or more randomly selected pixels; and wherein the red, greenand blue values are used as seed values for a terrain generator in thegameplay engine.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein determining one ormore characteristics of the image comprises determining if the imagecontains curved lines or straight lines and generating contentreflective of whether the image contains curved lines or straight lines.4. The method of claim 3 comprising: identifying a facial image in theobtained image; processing the facial image to determine one or morefacial characteristics; correlating the one or more facialcharacteristics with one or more character attributes of a defaultcharacter object; and modifying the default character object with theone or more character attributes based on the facial characteristics. 5.The method of claim 1 wherein extracting data from the image comprisesobtaining color data for the image and wherein determining one or morecharacteristics of the data comprises determining a color content of theimage, the color content of the image being a predominant color used inthe image, the gameplay engine using the color content to modify anattribute of a weather object to coincide with a weather patternassociated with the color content, the weather attribute limiting orincreasing a character object's movement, speed or limiting a characterobject's sight distance in the virtual world.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein extracting data from the digital image comprises determining oneor more predominate colors in the digital image.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein generating interactive game content based on the one or morecharacteristics of the image comprises generating a weather routinebased on the one or more predominate colors.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the weather routine affects one or more characteristics of theinteractive game content.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one ormore characteristics of the interactive game content include visibilityor movement speeds for one or more characters within the video game. 10.The method of claim 3, further comprising: identifying a facial image inthe obtained image; processing the facial image to determine one or morefacial characteristics; comparing the one or more facial characteristicswith one or more average characteristics correlating to the samefeatures as the one or more facial characteristics; and when the one ormore facial characteristics exceeds a threshold of the one or moreaverage characteristics, modifying an associated characteristic in thedefault character object to correlate to the one or more facialcharacteristics.
 11. A method of generating unique gameplay content fora video game virtual world comprising: obtaining a digital image from anetwork location, an image capture device, or a memory device coupled toa game system upon initiation of a video game; extracting data from thedigital image; determining, by a gameplay engine, one or morecharacteristics of the image based on the extracted data; determining,by the gameplay engine, edges of features contained within the obtainedimage; generating gameplay content based on the edges, the edgeinformation being used by the gameplay engine to determine an attackpattern and number of troops for an enemy in the video game virtualworld; and transmitting the generated gameplay content to a displaydevice for display.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein determiningedges of features contained within the obtained image comprises:comparing a first value of a first pixel with a second value of a secondpixel, wherein the second pixel is adjacent to the first pixel; anddetermining if the difference between the first value and the secondvalue exceeds a predetermined threshold.
 13. A system for generatinggameplay content for a video game, comprising: at least one processingelement; and a computer readable storage device having programinstructions stored thereon for execution by the at least one processingelement, the program instructions comprising operations for: extractingdata from a digital image obtained from one of a network location, animage capture device, or a memory device coupled to video game, whereinextracting data comprises randomly selecting one or more pixels of theimage; analyzing, by a gameplay engine, the extracted data to determineone or more image characteristics of the image; generating interactivecontent for the video game based on the image characteristics; andtransmitting the interactive content to a display device for display.14. The system of claim 13, wherein generating interactive contentcomprises altering one or more features of the video game based on theimage characteristics, wherein the image characteristics include one ormore geometric features of the image.
 15. The system of claim 13,wherein analyzing the image to determine one or more imagecharacteristics comprises determining if the image contains curved linesor straight lines.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein generatinginteractive content for the video game based on the imagecharacteristics comprises generating content reflective of whether theimage contains curved lines or straight lines.
 17. The system of claim13, wherein analyzing the image to determine one or more imagecharacteristics comprises determining edges of features contained withinthe image.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein generating theinteractive content for the video game comprises: providing the one ormore image characteristics to a terrain generator; and creating by theterrain generator a terrain for the video game using the one or moreimage characteristics.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the one ormore image characteristics include pixel data from a plurality of pixelswithin the image.
 20. A system for generating gameplay content for avideo game, comprising: at least one processing element; and a computerreadable storage device having program instructions stored thereon forexecution by the at least one processing element, the programinstructions comprising operations for: extracting data from a digitalimage obtained from one of a network location, an image capture device,or a memory device coupled to video game, wherein extracting datacomprises randomly selecting one or more pixels of the image; analyzing,by a gameplay engine, the extracted data to determine one or more imagecharacteristics of the image; and generating interactive content for thevideo game based on the image characteristics, wherein generating theinteractive content for the video game comprises generating contentbased on the edges of features within the image, the edge informationbeing used by a gameplay engine to determine an attack pattern andnumber of troops for an enemy in the video game virtual world.